At various times, such as during construction, a water line must be connected to an existing water line if the building or other point of use is going to have water supplied from the existing water line. Traditionally, an operator would unearth the existing water line (create a pit) and use a saddle tap (shown in the attached figures) or a direct tap to create a hole in the wall of the existing water line and to leave a connection having a valve (often referred to as a corporation stop available from Ford Meter Box Company) behind after the tapping operation. The water line may then be connected to the connection and the valve opened to supply water to the water line from the existing water line.
During the tapping operation, it is possible that the existing water line may rupture. In such a situation, the operator tapping the existing water line may be hit with high pressure water escaping from the ruptured existing water line. This may knock the operator off balance and may pin him against the side of the pit he is in during the tapping operation. The pit quickly fills with water from the ruptured existing water line. The high pressure water and fragments of the existing water line, if any, may cause bodily injury to the operator.